Dark enough to hide your clumsy capering, but just light enough that you won't accidentally take out the guy having a boogie next to you.
That's the promise from Kim Townsend, founder of the local branch of No Lights No Lycra " the dancing-in-the-dark craze that has just celebrated its one-year anniversary in Northland.
Off go the lights, on goes the (loud) music and the busting of moves begins.
"Because it's in a dark space people feel free to have lots of fun," Ms Townsend, a kindergarten teacher by day, said.
"It's amazing to get yourself into the space where you just dance. You get this lovely collective energy getting together and dancing just for the fun of it."
Each hour-long monthly session, at the Northland Youth Theatre premises on Bank St, starts with a short briefing and Ms Townsend said the safety record was excellent despite the hazards inherent in flailing around blindly in a crowded room. A doctor friend even recommends the event to patients as stress relief.
"When you're in the dark, it's amazing how you get a sense of how close you are to people," she said. "Our biggest mishaps have been the occasional technical difficulty."
Ms Townsend was compelled to start the monthly event when she moved from Wellington and found opportunities to dance freely in Whangarei were few and far between.
"Dancing was a really big part of what we did [in Wellington] and we realised that was lacking up here," she said.
Now up to 35 people go on the last Thursday of the month to let loose under the cloak of darkness. The NLNL concept is part of a worldwide movement, with events in Europe, Canada, the US, Australia and elsewhere in New Zealand. Regular Whangarei customers range from as young as 10 to those in their 60s, with a different person putting together the playlist, usually a mix of contemporary music, classics and cheesy 80s hits.
"The cool thing about this community is if you want to make things happen, there are people here who are really open to it ... NLNL has got this great global plug which says 'switch off and dance'," she said.
Find "No Lights No Lycra Whangarei" on Facebook for details.